Interpol Assisted PSNI in Contacting Jordan Peterson During Noah Donohoe Investigation
Interpol supported the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in their efforts to contact Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson during the investigation into the disappearance of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe, an inquest has heard.
Noah Donohoe's body was discovered in a water tunnel six days after he went missing in north Belfast in June 2020.
The PSNI attempted to reach Peterson due to a digital imprint linked to the professor appearing on Noah's phone history on the day he disappeared.
Upon learning of Noah's interest in one of Peterson's books, the PSNI initiated international enquiries.
Karen Curran, a former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Detective Constable with the PSNI, told the inquest that the police aimed to "bottom out" their enquiries regarding the digital imprint because they knew Noah had been "very enthused" by Peterson's book.
Noah was carrying the book in his rucksack on the day he went missing.
It was ultimately revealed that an Instagram message, which left the digital imprint on Noah's phone about an hour before he left home on 21 June 2020, was from Peterson's daughter commenting on Father's Day.
The message was not sent to Noah's phone, and the reason it left an imprint on his device's digital history remains unknown.
'12 Rules for Life'
The inquest further heard about extensive international police efforts to contact Peterson to clarify the contents of the message.
The PSNI began enquiries in August 2020 and received a response in January 2021 stating there were no outgoing messages from Peterson's Instagram account on 21 June 2020.
Before concluding the international enquiries, the PSNI received support from the Canadian High Commission in London, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and Interpol.
International police teams discovered during their investigations that Peterson had been hospitalized in Serbia after contracting Covid in August 2020.
Police in Canada also visited Peterson's home and the University of Toronto during a period when international investigators were unable to obtain a response from the author.
During the inquest on Thursday, a barrister representing Noah's mother, Fiona Donohoe, questioned Karen Curran about the extent of police enquiries, including Interpol's involvement.
Curran explained that PSNI investigators were keen to determine if any contact had occurred between Noah and Peterson due to the boy's known interest in the book 12 Rules for Life.
"The police wanted to know if Peterson could potentially provide any information about the matter that could assist their investigation."
The international enquiries concluded that no social media contact took place between Peterson and Noah Donohoe.
Wrong Name
The coroner, Mr Justice Rooney, and the jury were also informed that a civilian witness admitted to providing inaccurate evidence to the inquest.
Connor McConnell submitted a new statement on Thursday after a woman denied his claim that she had alerted him about the missing boy before police issued a public appeal for information.
Noah disappeared on the evening of 21 June 2020, and police issued a public appeal in the early hours of the following morning.
McConnell appeared at the inquest twice previously, insisting he contacted police on the night of Noah's disappearance with information.
In February, he described being at his mother's house on Northwood Road in north Belfast when he saw Noah cycling naked along the street on the day he went missing.
McConnell said he contacted police that night after seeing a Facebook post from a "colleague" containing a photograph of Noah.
However, it was explained to McConnell that the PSNI had not released details about Noah's disappearance until early the next morning.
He was asked to write down the name of the "colleague," which was handed to the court for the coroner's office to investigate.
In May, McConnell was recalled when the person whose name he provided stated she never made any Facebook post about Noah's disappearance.
Second Wrong Name
When questioned about this in May, McConnell said he had made a mistake writing the name at the February hearing and meant to write the name of another friend with a similar surname.
He then wrote down the second person's name, which was passed to the coroner.
McConnell was asked to confirm he was certain the new name was correct.
The coroner's office contacted the second woman, who provided a statement denying she made any social media posts about Noah's disappearance on 21 June 2020.
'Memories Skew'
McConnell then submitted a new statement, read at the hearing on Thursday.
"At the time of my original statements I wholeheartedly believed my recollection to be truthful."
"However, over time memories can skew or become ineffective and inaccurate."
He accepted that his recollection "must be inaccurate" and now believes he contacted police on Monday evening, 22 June 2020, not the night before as previously stated.
"I apologise to the Inquest for any inconvenience."
McConnell was not present when his new statement was read into the record.
